New ADHD therapy

A Sydney University research team believes it may have found the answer to treat children with ADHD without the use of drugs but with the help of computer games.

Transcript

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KERRY O'BRIEN: It's been estimated more than one in 10 Australian children have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.

The use of drugs to treat symptoms of the disorder has always been controversial, with around 20 per cent of diagnosed children using medication, to overcome problems with disruptive behaviour, concentration and learning.

A recent government review into ADHD has identified a need for more behavioural therapies, and one Sydney University research team believes it may have found an innovative treatment which in some cases could be an alternative to medication.

Rebecca Baillie reports.

REBECCA BAILLIE: It may look like Nicholas Tragotsalos is enjoying some down time, but this six-year-old is helping to develop some non-drug therapy for ADHD.

JANET TRAGOTSALOS, MOTHER: My children are interested in computer games, so it's a great way to get them to focus.

REBECCA BAILLIE: Nicholas Tragotsalos has not always been this confident. Not long after he started school, he began having problems both at home and in the classroom.

JANET TRAGOTSALOS: He started acting out a little, fidgety and easily distracted. He was trying to mask that he couldn't do the task by playing up a little.

NICHOLAS TRAGOTSALOS: I was crying a lot.

REBECCA BAILLIE: Why were you crying?

NICHOLAS TRAGOTSALOS: Because I was saying I can't do it.

REBECCA BAILLIE: His teacher suspected Nicholas Tragotsalos had a learning difficulty and suggested he see a specialist.

JANET TRAGOTSALOS: The paediatrician indicated he had the characteristics of attention deficit disorder.

(to Nicholas) How many red fish are there?

I didn't want to believe that that was the diagnosis. But I came to accept it because he needed the help and I was really concerned that emotionally it was affecting him.

REBECCA BAILLIE: Professor Philip Mitchell was the chairman of a recent review into ADHD by the NSW Health Department.

PHILIP MITCHELL, PSYCHIATRY, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES: This is actually a very common problem. We think of this as a slow development of brain functioning so that there's a developmental delay in the brain of these children and most kids grow out of it as they get older.

REBECCA BAILLIE: He says approximately one in five Australian children with ADHD are being prescribed stimulant medication and that the NSW review exposed a real need for more behavioural therapies.

PHILIP MITCHELL: Most prescribers of stimulants wanted to use other treatment likes behaviour therapy, speech therapy, et cetera. But what the survey and the audit both identified was difficulty in accessing such services.

REBECCA BAILLIE: Psychologist Andrew Campbell and PhD student Krestina Amon urges more non-drug treatments are needed. They're researching the benefits of a computer game which teaches the children the tools to relax.

ANDREW CAMPBELL, PSYCHOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY: Children are very receptive to new technology. I wanted to find something that would engage them for long periods of time to change their behaviour.

REBECCA BAILLIE: The research focuses in on off the shelf computer game in which the player wears bio-feedback sensors, measuring heart rate and skin temperature. Unlike typical fast paced computer games, this game requires very different strategies for the player to win.

JANET TRAGOTSALOS: It's a lot of breathing techniques. Instead of trying to raise the heart rate by doing shooting or racing games, they would use their breathing and a lot of mind power to control what they see on the screen.

NICHOLAS TRAGOTSALOS: It help you relax and, be concentrating. Very well. In homework at school.

JANET TRAGOTSALOS: We're going to do what kind of breathing?

NICHOLAS TRAGOTSALOS: Slow.

REBECCA BAILLIE: Nicholas Tragotsalos is one of 24 children aged between five and 15 who have been part of the Sydney University trial.

JANET TRAGOTSALOS: Breathing out. Good, relaxing.

REBECCA BAILLIE: More than half of the children involved were also on stimulants, but Nicholas Tragotsalos had never used medication.

JANET TRAGOTSALOS: When he came here he was very fidgety, he would swing on his chair and look around the room. When it came to an activity he couldn't pass he would get quite teary and as we went through he became a lot calmer, no tears, by halfway through and just a lot more self-confidence.

REBECCA BAILLIE: Dr Andrew Campbell says initial results from the trial are very encouraging, with participants translating their new-found skills from the game into real life.

ANDREW CAMPBELL: Improving mood at home, in school, more attention, better sleeping, better eating, but we have yet to see how the game will benefit an ADHD child over a very long period of time.

PHILIP MITCHELL: As long as there was an appropriate control or comparison group, involved so that we could make sure it just wasn't the attention being paid to the children by the researchers, that I think biofeedback is a very promising therapy.

REBECCA BAILLIE: For Janet Tragotsalos the research came at just the right time for her son, who is now happy and thriving at school.

JANET TRAGOTSALOS: After the biofeedback he just couldn't sit down and apply himself. It was minimal supervision really and it was quite amazing because he really was struggling before that.

NICHOLAS TRAGOTSALOS: Now I'm saying I can do it, I can do it, I can do it.